See, if Stupidface McGee and that other jerk weren’t so hell-bent on getting their way, we’d be two months into the 2012-13 season by now. We wouldn’t be sitting around wondering whether and where Roberto Luongo was going to get traded. We’d likely be sitting around wondering if he should have, as well as embroiled in other silly new controversies. Alas, we’re still where we were.

However, the can of what-ifs is a bottomless pit of despair, and once I started rattling off a few, I couldn’t stop. Thus, here are 5 more things we would probably know by now if it weren’t for this flipping lockout.

How much leash is Cory Schneider going to get as a starter?

Presumably, not much. It’s important to remember that, when Roberto Luongo arrived in Vancouver, all he had to do was be better than Dan Cloutier. Schneider, on the other hand, has to be better than Roberto Luongo. That’s a tall order, and if he had struggled out of the gate, Canuck fans likely would have remembered just how tall. Of course, it’s possible that Schneider outplayed expectations in October and earned himself a long, long leash. But now we won’t know, since the next October is 10 months away.

How loud was the outrage over the Cody Hodgson trade after training camp?

Among the many things the lockout stole from us: Zack Kassian and Cody Hodgson’s first training camps with their new teams. Can you imagine if Kassian had struggled and Hodgson had shown well? And can you imagine if Kassian has started the season in the AHL? That would have been fun. Instead, we’ll have to wait until fall of 2013 at the earliest for the next full training camp.

Did Jordan Schroeder show NHL promise?

Schroeder is one of several Canucks prospects whose first NHL game was likely postponed by the lockout. Ryan Kesler’s injury left a spot up the middle for one of the Canucks’ young guns, and Schroeder seemed likely to be the one that filled it in the meantime. Schroeder’s a player who seems to play better when he’s playing with better players, so a chance to look like an NHLer would have been welcomed. Instead, he remains in the AHL, and, sadly, he looks like an AHLer.

Did Maxim Lapierre show third-line centre capability?

Speaking of centres, Maxim Lapierre projects to be the one when the season resumes, at least according to the Vancouver depth chart. Granted, considering the names that have come up in connection to the team — Joe Colborne, Tyler Bozak, Nick Bjustad, Jason Arnott — it seems clear the Canucks aren’t overly happy with that. By now, we’d know whether the Canucks had managed to plug the hole or been forced to give him a shot (likely the latter, since they were down a Kesler, too). Furthermore, if he had gotten that shot, we’d know whether or not he deserved a longer look. Argh.

Were Malhotra and Raymond able to return to form at all after a full season of offseason training?

Malhotra is one of two players that’s suddenly blessed with a proficiency of offseason training time a year after getting almost none due to injury. Mason Raymond is the other. Is it just a coincidence that these two players were among the most-maligned on the club? We’d certainly have a better idea of how to answer that question if we were watching them play their second month after a normal offseason.

** Bonus thing! Surprise! **

How much do the Canucks miss Sami Salo?

The Canucks were wise not to overpay for Sami Salo, but that doesn’t mean that he would have gone unmissed, especially with Alex Edler and Jason Garrison likely missing the start of the season with injuries. Salo’s steady play and right-handedness would have made him invaluable through October and November, and even though very few people think he should be making what Tampa Bay is paying him, a lukewarm start by the Canucks would have been enough for fans to be furious at the team for letting him go. But no. The lockout has robbed us of economically unsound fan outrage. It’s a damn shame.

3 comments

Joe

“Presumably, not much. It’s important to remember that, when Roberto Luongo arrived in Vancouver, all he had to do was be better than Dan Cloutier”

Better than Cloutier? Cloutier was already gone by the time Luongo played his first game.

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Daniel Wagner

November 28, 2012

I think you missed the point, which was that the bar was set pretty low for Luongo. We’re not talking about Luongo needing to play better than Cloutier in order to take his job, we’re talking about him playing better than Cloutier and winning over Canucks fans.

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pooroldbearandelkandducksandunicorn

December 4, 2012

Is a proficiency like a profusion only better? Thanks for the posts, especially the anigifs, is what I mean – I’m just grumpy because of the lockouts. I’m not crying. I’ve just been cutting onions. I’m making a lasagna… *for one*.

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